. >>> the storm is drastically changing president obama and mitt romney's campaign plans with eight days before america votes. >>> the san francisco giants are world series champions. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "first look" on msnbc. >>> this is d-day with hurricane sandy. waves are growing ever more om nis and the threat of storm surges from 4 to 11 feet high. this is the scene about 100 miles north of boston. hundreds of thousands have been told to evacuate in coastal a areas all the way into new england. the storm claimed 65 lives in the caribbean and has the potential to paralyze new york and other big cities. early this morning president obama has signed emergency declarations for connecticut, pennsylvania and rhode island, clearing the way for help from fema. let's get right to bill karins who has the latest forecast. what do you have? >> the storm has strengthened instead of 75 so that's very impressive that this storm continues to lower its pressure, even going over the cooler waters now and it's only about 386 miles away from new york city. it's actually moving at a pretty